Adam Cipriano, the freshman cornerback, was chosen to go with the Lacy School of Business to New York City for four days for a career exploration program.
 
He found out about the program during his first couple of weeks at Butler and was immediately interested.
 
Cipriano is a Finance and Economics major who applied to this selective program and was one of the seven chosen to go. He was picked among the 90 other applicants that also applied.
 
The four days were filled with networking and career exploration along with meeting some Butler alumni. The alumni told them their own stories and what paths they went down and the steps they took to get to where they are today.
 
They stayed in the city and were able to go to the finical district and attend board room meetings where they got a glimpse into the real working world. In these meetings, they were able to have in-depth Q&As and learn from each other.
 
One of Cipriano's biggest takeaways from the trip was learning firsthand what it takes to get on the career path that he wants and seeing it in the people he networked with. It was also his first time visiting New York.
 
"It's one of those places where if you don't stop and smell the roses you will miss a lot."
 
"Experiencing the environment and seeing what it takes to make it was one of the best parts of the trip," Cipriano said. "The coolest and most eye-opening thing for me was going into those work environments where everyone is incredibly hardworking and intelligent. Those environments where you want to learn and grow and that is what I was most attracted to."
 
Being able to sit in on meetings and see the workers in action was beneficial to the students to see what kind of career path they want to go down.
 
Seeing these people in action compelled Cipriano to want to go into this field because there are so many different paths you can down. He also learned that all the skills and effort you put in translates over extremely well to other fields.
 
"Going to New York and wanting to have a career there is a very daunting task when you think about it," Cipriano said. "If you really want to go into this job you realize it takes a lot of sacrifices, and it's a very hard career to get into, and that it's very worthwhile if it is for you."
 
In addition to all the businesses they saw, the students were also able to go sightseeing, eat some authentic New York food, and see a Broadway show.
 
"We were able to enjoy sightseeing at night and get a full scope of New York which was another favorite part of the trip," Cipriano said. "As a group, we watched one off-Broadway show which was just amazing and the food was great, I had the best ramen of my life for six bucks."
 
Overall it was a great experience and helped Cipriano and his fellow students get a little taste of the real world.